"Why is everyone around me under four feet tall?" Luke grumbled. "And why can't I see them because of too much scotch like normal people?"
Yet another four-year-old zoomed past him in an attempt to beat his friend to the top of the gigantic inflatable slide in one corner of the room. Various other children were bouncing with glee in other inflatable contraptions, screaming in delight as they soared toward the ceiling. Off to one corner a banner reading "Happy Birthday Cameron!" hung on the wall over a table loaded down with presents and a cake in the shape of Sponge Bob.
"Hush." Laura swatted at her husband. "This was where Cameron wanted his party."
"Oh sure. Now we let four-year-olds decide things. Where do we draw the line woman? The next thing you know Leslie Lu will be thinking she's allowed to make her own choices."
"Keep it up and I'll give Patrick your cake." Lucky pointed out casually from behind his parents.
"Did I hear someone mention cake?" Patrick's head perked up and he joined his family immediately.
"Good God man. You're like Lassie hearing Timmy in the well." Lucky shook his head.
"Yeah but I'd leave that little brat." Patrick assured them.
Nodding his agreement, Lucky looked on sagely. "Totally more trouble than he was worth."
"Speaking of Cruz...where is he?" Patrick teased.
"Lance has him cornered in the boxing ring." Laura pointed to the other side of the room.
Lucky and Patrick dissolved into laughter. "Figures." Patrick muttered.
"What do you think he did with the baby doll?" Luke wondered, remembering that neither Patrick nor Lucky had taken it back, but also that it didn't seem to be in Cruz or Bobbie's possession.
"Lucas dug threw the trash and it wasn't there." Lucky shrugged. "I think he paid someone to kidnap it."
"It was fun while it lasted. Of course, it'll be even more so to see the two of you juggling two new infants in a couple months." Patrick smirked.
"Don't worry Uncle Patrick. We plan on making sure you don't feel left out." Lucky patted his cousin on his back. "I think Robin's offering up free baby-sitting at your place as a shower gift."
"She is not!" Patrick argued, sneaking a quick glance at his girlfriend who was at the present's table, sorting them out.
"I think she said something about a spare room that would be the perfect place for them to stay when they came over..."
"We don't have any..." Patrick stopped mid-sentence. They had one she hadn't done anything with yet. Well, hell. "What's a little babysitting? I did it with Cam."
"With Mom's supervision."
"It took a while but, like everything else, I perfected it." Patrick reminded his cousin smugly.
"So when we leave you with two infants, Cam, Morgan, and Lance you'll be just fine then?"
"Um..." Patrick stammered. "Sure."
Quietly Lance pulled on the untucked edge to Luke's button down shirt. "Uncle Luke, will you go on the slide with me?"
"Of course he will Lance." Laura chimed in, pushing her husband and nephew toward the contraption before Luke had a chance to voice his protest. "Uncle Luke was just talking about how much fun it looked."
"I've seen her hung up on a guy before, but not like this." Robin mused, playing with a ribbon on one of Cam's presents.
"If she's not talking to you about this, how can you be so sure there is a guy?" Elizabeth wondered as she kept an eye out to keep stray children and a few determined adults by the cake before it was time to cut it.
"I know my cousin. She's so, to the point, about most things. Lately, she's been flighty and she's cancelled on me twice. Something is up and I'm willing to bet it's a guy." Robin reasoned, giving Elizabeth an all-knowing look.
"But why would she hide something like that from you? I've only met her a few times but Maxie doesn't strike me as the type to hide anything."
"And you see why I'm worried, then?" Robin said, biting on her bottom lip in contemplation.
"You make a good point. If she's hiding a relationship, there must be a reason."
"I wonder how serious it is." Robin had seen Maxie hurt too many times to not worry.
"Is she still sleeping at home most nights?" Elizabeth wondered.
"Uh huh. From what I can see."
"So it's couldn't be that serious yet."
"Unless he's sleeping over too. With Mac and Alexis' schedules, they'd never know." Robin pointed out.
"Have you found evidence of him?"
"No, but maybe I should send Lucas over." Robin laughed.
"You know we never did pay him back for ratting our location out in New York." Elizabeth said thoughtfully.
"You're absolutely right!" Robin placed her hand over her mouth. "That's a perfect plan. I'll just get him to do a little digging and find out if I need to maybe step in."
"Think we'll convince him we get the family discount?"
Robin smiled. "I think so."
Nikolas zipped up his tracksuit and casually made his way closer to the Spencer festivities. No one would recognize him in this outfit. The Cassadine prince in a tracksuit? It had been Emily's idea. The only reason he had agreed to do it was so that he could continue to do her. When it all came crashing down, he wouldn't be guilty of doing anything. He wondered if the other four realized this.
"Ok everyone! It's time for cake!" Lucky announced, carrying the cake over, candles aglow from the present table to the center of the room, where most of the children pushed closer to Cameron in order to get a good piece.
"Cake! Cake!" Cameron clapped his little hands together and almost fell face-first into it in his haste to block the other children from getting near the table.
"Hold on. We have to sing first." Elizabeth pulled him back just in time to prevent a face-first dive.
Nikolas couldn't tell what they were saying, but the gathering around the table was enough of a clue that the party was quickly coming to a close. Close enough without being obvious about it he snapped a dozen pictures, catching all four children in a few good shots. Some of the shots would be terrible, but he didn't really care. All they needed was one good one of each child. AJ called it motivation. Emily called it precision. He called it sick satisfaction. The Spencers were finally getting what was coming to them. He had only had to wait his entire life. Soon it would all be worth it. When Lucky Spencer went to tuck his only child into bed, he would find the room empty. The rest of the Spencers would have similar reactions when their little brats came up missing.
"Happy birthday dear Cameron...happy birthday to you." The off key singing concluded to the sounds of cheers as Cameron made an effort to blow out all his candles in one breath.
Nikolas' mother had abandoned him when he was an infant. His father had been assassinated before his first birthday. He had never felt an ounce of love from anyone. As the Cassadine heir to the throne, Helena had raised him as her own, but she had never treated him like anything but the prince, never remembering that he was her flesh-in-blood grandson. Titles were all that mattered to that old woman. The day he had curled his fingers around her neck and squeezed the life out of her had been the single greatest moment of his life.
At an age when most children were accustomed to bedtime stories about dragons and knights and princesses, Nikolas had been told accounts of what a whore his mother was, God rest her soul. He had found out later that Helena's plot to murder her had been thwarted only for the poor woman to die in a plane crash a month later, unbeknownst to anyone but her only son. Helena had spurted out rumors of there being a second child, a daughter, but Nikolas had never found any such proof. Clearing his thoughts, he snapped a few more pictures and let the crowd sweep him out the door.
Steven chuckled as he spotted a familiar brunette ducking out of the corner book store. He had only known her for a few short weeks, but he was fairly confident this was a familiar haunt for Georgie. He hurried across the street in an attempt to catch her before she got swept up in the thickening crowd.
If he had stopped to think about it, his haste to see a woman (no a girl, he corrected himself, anyone younger than his sister was a girl) that he had only really known less than a month would seem insane. It wasn't like they were even dating. He appreciated her intelligence and her refusal to back down from any debate. And she was a nice reminder of home in a strange city. Steven slowed down as he came up directly behind her. Reaching a hand out, he tapped her on the shoulder gently. "Hey Georgie Girl."
Georgie's hand flew to her chest and she spun around to face him, her mouth set in a perfect pout. "Steven, you startled me." He looked good, she thought to herself. Way too good to be allowed to roam free. Taking a deep breath and counting to ten, she prayed for a distraction, but didn't expect one. Ever since her roommates' insistence that she and Steven were more than they admitted, she had done her best to dissuade them and herself.
He grinned at her, trying not to laugh as she flushed. "I'd say I'm sorry, but you look too cute when you're scared." He reached out and touched the tip of her nose with his finger.
"Are you stalking me?" Because that would be okay, she added to herself. What was the matter with her? Hadn't she learned her lesson already? Butterflies were the kiss of death. In her last case, she had turned her significant other gay. She gave Steven a speculative look. There was little chance of her having that same effect on this man. Besides, he saw her like a little sister.
"No. Although I can't say the same about you and every bookstore in Paris." He teased. What was that questioning look of hers for?
"I like to read." Georgie knocked on his head with a soft fist. "Hello? We met over a book, if you can remember back that far."
He grabbed her fist in mid air and held it down by his side. "Yes but you don't have to read every book in the city before you go home."
"What should I do in my spare time then?" She challenged.
"Have you been to any place in the city? The Tower? The Louver? The Seine?"
"Have you?" Georgie shot back.
Steven cocked his head to the side and smiled at her. "Was that a direct challenge to my cultural awareness, Miss Jones?"
"I believe so, Mr. Webber. Well?"
"Just so happens we have a couple of hours before the Louver closes. Follow me." Steven stepped out in front of her pulling her along by the hand he still held.
"I don't want to take you away from anything." Georgie countered, not so sure being alone with him was such a good idea tonight. Her hormones were all over the place. She was on overdrive. And he didn't even realize. Deflated, she met his eyes and tilted her head to the side to further study him. He had a nice face with those bushy eyebrows and a comical set to his mouth. His eyes were sharp as if he never missed a single detail.
"Not a problem. We wrapped up early tonight. Or the director had a temper tantrum and sent us all home." Steven rolled his eyes.
"Imagine that. A stubborn man threw a temper tantrum when he didn't get his way." Georgie smiled.
"It's a completely foreign concept I know." He caught her smile out of the corner of his eye and felt his own grow. The way her whole face lit up when she smiled made it impossible not to grin in response, he decided.
"I don't know if I trust you to be my tour guide. You've been known to be...flaky and...unreliable." Georgie reminded him, slowing down to a more leisurely pace. She felt their fingers disentangle and held back a sigh.
"I told you I can't control how long shoots run." Steven explained. "I didn't mean to be late the other day."
"It's not just that you were late. You left barely half an hour into dinner after you got that phone call." Georgie hated that she sounded like she was in a much more serious position than she was, but it had hurt her feelings to be abandoned in an unfamiliar city while her friend dashed away, cell phone glued to his ear.
"My mother. She's still having a hard time dealing with the fact my sister is pregnant. It was going to get ugly fast." He caught the downtrodden look in her eyes and used his finger to raise her chin so she couldn't avoid his gaze. "I didn't mean to abandon you. I promise. I just didn't want you to think less of me." The scary part was how true it was, Steven realized. He didn't want Georgie to think badly of him.
"So leaving me alone in a fancy restaurant was to spare my feelings? Is that right?" She didn't look any more convinced than she sounded. Of course Georgie understood Steven's loyalty to his family. It was his loyalty that had led them to meet in the first place. She just wanted to be a little more important than she was. It was petty and unfair of her.
"How can I make it up to you?"
Georgie wanted very much to say that there was nothing he could do. She wanted to turn and run, run until her lungs burned and her vision blurred. Panic seized her throat. This couldn't be happening again. Not again. She was very much afraid of what would come tumbling out of her mouth so she chose not to speak at all. This was all her, had so little to do with him it was almost laughable. So why did she instantly feel like crying? "I guess we can go with your original plan." She managed, lifting her eyes to his.
"You sure?" He was beginning to get the impression that going to the world-famous museum was the last thing Georgie wanted to do. The waves of distress coming off of her were almost palpable in the cool January air. "Why don't we go for a walk by the river instead?" he offered.
Georgie smiled. What was she so freaked out about? Just because her feelings were playing tricks on her didn't mean his were having the same effect on him. There were no feelings to speak of as far as he was concerned. He just wanted to be her friend. And she could use another friend. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad." She apologized profusely.
"You didn't. Is there something bothering you?" Steven prodded gently.
"I guess I'm homesick." Georgie lied.
"Any particular reason or just general missing home blues?" He pulled her closer to him, resting his arm over her shoulder as they began to walk in the direction of the banks of the Seine.
"You know how these things go. There's never one specific feeling. It just ambushes you all at once." Georgie replied.
"That's true. But I do have one surefire way to help with that issue."
"What's that?" Georgie wanted to know.
"Hot chocolate and a friend. You up for it?" He pointed to a small café that was just feet away from them.
"Can we walk for a while? It's so beautiful." Georgie gave him a soft stare, her bottom lip poked out as she tried not to smile and ruin the image.
"Fine. But only if you promise not to go all weepy on me. I can't stand crying women." He teased.
"Promise." Georgie nodded.
"Good. Then we can go."